Death and Life

'Eugh, yuck, why do I feel so sticky and… warm? I thought I was meant to be dead.' Riven thought.

'Hmm, I wonder how my brother is going to feel about it. Haha, who am I kidding? He'll probably just ignore it and continue drinking like usual.'

Despite being the only family he has, Riven and his brother grew distant over the years. While Riven was mainly sitting in his room on his phone, his brother was constantly out drinking and treating Riven like a burden.

He still hasn't fully processed what had happened earlier at the school; it was like he acted completely on his instincts. He was definitely never the smartest; well, it was more like he never tried. Life outside of his phone screen was just hell for him ever since his mother died; the whole world was just grey to him.

Anyway, it was the same for everything in his life except those goddamn Web novels; once he read one, he would never forget it.

As Riven was thinking about this, a bright light flashed ahead of him.

***

In an elegant room that gave off the vibes of a mediaeval castle. Everything in this room was rich: the furniture, the carpet, and even the candles looked fancy.

An orange sunlight pierced through the room, indicating that it was very late in the day.

"You're almost there, m'lady. Push, push!" Multiple midwives were rushing around the room, aiding a woman in labour.

"Hahhh." A beautiful lady with olive skin and pointy ears groaned. She looked to be in her late thirties with long, glossy dark hair that seemed to absorb the light around it.

Her eyes were the complete opposite, with a bright golden colour that, paired with her delicate features, made her look like an ethereal beauty despite sweating profusely.

Next to her, a man, also in his late thirties, was holding her hand, supporting her. His features were sharp, and he had deep blue hair paired with two bright blue eyes. "Come on, Angelica, you can do this." His well-kept face was filled with worry.

"Hahhha, thank you, honey—AHHH!"

And after a few moments…

"Congratulations m'lady I've got the baby! And it's a boy!" Exclaimed a midwife.

The couple shared elated expressions, clearly ecstatic with the result.

"Hmm?" The midwife's brows furrowed. She had quickly realised that this baby wasn't crying, which was strange to say the least.

Adding to this, despite being a male of the Atalli clan, the baby didn't have their blue eyes and blue hair, which all males have in the clan. Fearing the worst she quickly used healing magic to scan the infant and found something strange…

"What's wrong, Bella?" The couple said in unison.

"It appears the baby is already conscious, m'lady. He has a lot of brain activity and is already aware of things happening around him. In addition, he has all the features of the dark elves instead of the Atalli clan." She explained as she handed over the baby to its mother.

"What does this mean for my child? the man inquired. The couple felt a mix of worry, surprise, and anticipation.

"I cannot be one hundred percent sure, as I have encountered this before, but what I can say is that he is perfectly healthy, so you can ease your worries, Lord Rickon."

Rickon and Angelica let out a sigh of relief. "Hahaha, what a surprise, and he looks like a dark elf. Ange, do you think he can use your magic?" Rickon mused, trying to keep his voice down to not disturb the baby.

While Angelica stared at her baby with a warm, loving smile. The baby curiously stared back. "That would be nice."

Although they were both surprised by this development, the new parents quickly accepted it, as they both knew that anything could happen on the continent of Velgrith.

"Honey, what should we name him?" She asked.

Rickon pondered on this for a while and eventually came up with a name. "I think galacticdestroyer is perf—" His gaze landed on his wife's murderous gaze, and he immediately started thinking of something else.

"Ahem, what do you think of Riven?" He suggested, taking on a serious tone.

Angelica smiled knowingly. "Yes, I like it; it's a wonderful name. Riven Atalli."

Despite the unusually quiet baby, they instantly fell in love with him and both instinctively knew that they would protect him with their lives no matter the circumstances.

Suddenly the door of the room opened, and the mood shifted.

A man with almost the same characteristics as Rickon; the only difference was he had a lot more grey hairs and a stern but serene look to him, compared to the latter's emotional and intellectual one.

"Angelica, son." His voice was swift and commanding. "How is the baby?"

Angelica tried to sit up and bow. "I greet the great lord of the Atalli clan, Robert Atalli."

"Father" Rickon gave him a modest bow. Despite Rickon being the lord of the clan, the great lord is the highest position you can have because all great lords are some of the strongest individuals in the kingdom of Claldrith. And in Caldrith, strength is respect.

"Please." Robert responded, raising a hand up to signal that there's no need.

"Well, Father, we've decided to name him Riven. What do you think?" Rickon was grinning ear to ear. "Hehe, not only is he a genius, but he also doesn't have the features of the Atalli clan males." Rickon stuck his nose in the air, already proud of his little boy.

Roberts face finally showed some change.

"Hmm, interesting. Very well, come, we must let him select his soul weapon." Robert instructed

"Father, isn't it tradition to wait 15 months after the birth before starting the ritual?"

Robert sighed, exhausted from talking so much. "You said he was self-aware already, so that should be enough."

"Um, Robert, do you think we could let him rest for a day? I'm also a bit tired." Angelica cut in; she was nervous but firm

Robert gave his daughter-in-law and Riven a quick glance before saying, "Okay." And disappearing like a leaf in a breeze.

As soon as he left, everyone in the room felt relief wash over them. 'He's just too overbearing!'

Soon enough everyone else in the room left to do the rest of their daily tasks, leaving only the infant, his parents, and his thoughts.

'This. Is. Fucking. AWESOME!'! Riven was extremely excited. Not only does he get to be born in a magical world, but he also seems to be the son of an extraordinarily rich family!

It was like all his wishes came true. 'And those people, apparently my mother and father, are so beautiful. Is everyone in this world that hot?

'But despite being reincarnated, it seems I don't have a system, which is kind of a bummer, but I don't mind it much; there are too many web novels with them anyway. I need to set some goals to achieve.' If anybody had heard what he just said, they would have had a heart attack. That is just how excited Riven truly is.

The goals Riven set for himself are as follows:

1. Find out what his immediate situation was—for example, finding out where he was, what state the world was in and where he stood in this Atalli clan and what it actually it.

2. Find a wife—There was no important reason. It was just that he didn't want to die a lonely virgin for the second time

3. Become the strongest—Not for any noble or righteous reason, no kind of the opposite, he just wanted to kill people. Being the strongest would allow him to do what he wanted, and it was a sure fire way to be safe.

Finally the most important to him was to travel this world—to discover, to meet new people. He never left his hometown on earth so he didn't get the chance to explore new things. He was determined to change that.

These goals will serve as a foundation for his life, and he was determined to achieve them

'I also have to select some soul weapon or something; hopefully it's something powerful. That would be extremely helpful in his quest for the peak.' Riven's thoughts were interrupted by Angelica.

She was sitting in the lotus position in the corner of their room. When he looked at the atmosphere around her, he noticed it was strange, like she was absorbing something in it. When he looked even closer, he saw that strange thing entering through her nose. 'That must be mana!'

Riven immediately got into the lotus position. Breathing in and out slowly, he tried to visualise the mana in the air and breathe it in. A moment later, he felt it; he was breathing in something other than air! It felt surreal, like he was breathing in the essence of the world itself.

He followed the mana as it went through his body. Up his nose, down, down his throat, and continuing down.

Then suddenly the mana started to pool in the right side of his chest and begin to form a sphere of sorts. It only took a few seconds before it was fully formed.

'This must be a mana core.'his excitement continued to grow.

and the rest of the mana started to flow into the sphere, although once the mana entered, 90% of it disappeared, leaving only the purest of mana to enter.

At this point both his parents finally noticed the disruption of mana in the air and rushed over to his crib expecting the worst, but they were left utterly speechless by what they witnessed. 'How is this possible? He hasn't even lived for a full day, and he's already formed his first mana core!' Rickon thought, and Angelica soon came to the realisation that he had seen and copied her.

Angelica stated in a serious tone. "Rick I think Riven will be in danger if this gets out. We cannot let the king know; we need to protect him." He nodded in agreement. "But we can't overdo it. One day our protection will only be a cage for him."

After a while, Riven decided to stop after he realised his new parents were watching him with serious looks. 'Um, it usually doesn't go like this.'

Riven already knew that his parents were aware he was conscious, and he already knew that these people loved him, so he was surprised to find such serious faces on the people who were cuddling him just an hour ago.

Riven's thoughts couldn't help but drift to his weird feelings towards Angelica.

She was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, so he should naturally be attracted to her, but when she was smiling at him, he could feel a warmth he hadn't felt since his old mother had died. The memories of his first mothers same smile came popping into his head. Suddenly tears started to flow as emotions flared up out of riven.

"Waaaaaaah." Baby Riven cried, his golden eyes filling up with tears.

Angelica quickly wrapped her hands around him. "Oh, my little darling, it's okay; Mama's going to protect you." She whispered into his little ears.

This cycle of crying and reassurance continued for a few minutes before Riven finally passed out and his parents could go to bed.

The next morning started uneventful. He wanted to continue cultivating but he was interrupted as his mother appeared in front of him. 'Oh please. God save me.'

Riven was breastfed by his beautiful mother, which was still incredibly awkward no matter how many times he did it.

Once Riven's mother left the room, he was left to spend a little time with his father, which was also a little awkward. Mostly before he had just been sucking his wife's breasts, but also because he didn't have a father back on earth and didn't know how to act; luckily, he didn't have to say or do anything since he was a baby.

'God, I hate having to spend time with people.' It was going to be exhausting to get used to so many social interactions.

Just as he was thinking about this the door to the room burst open with this time two girls, one 10 years old and the other 13 walking in with Angelica behind them.

"Riven, these two are your sisters, Arya and Kate. Girls, say hello to your new brother."